Jack Frost Nipping At Your Nose
by Lymne
Summary: Jack Frost Nipping At Your Nose? How did that expression come about?


It was Christmas eve. North was enthusiastically making his deliveries of gifts to all the good little boys and girls.

He had already finished Canada and was making his way through the United States. He didn't need a map, he knew from hundreds of years of experience; exactly where he had to go next. He pulled out his magic snow globe and held it up so that he could see his bright blue eyes reflected in the glass. "Burgess," he whispered and with his mighty arm, hurled the globe ahead of him where it burst and became a spinning vortex. "Hiyah!" He roared with laughter as he urged the reindeer pulling his sleigh into the portal.

As North exited the portal, he came face to face with a great gust of cold wind that blew the strands of his beard every which way. Below him was Burgess, covered in a thick layer of crisp snow. "I see Jack Frost has been working a little magic here." A wide grin spread across North's face. He had always been fond of Jack's work. There was a sort of wonder in Jack's handiwork that was very special. Even if the boy did tend to go overboard with the snow from time to time.

Pushing his enjoyment of the snow aside, North reached over his seat and grabbed the large sack of toys from the back of his sleigh. He stood up and heaved the sack over his shoulder. "Stick around boys!" He called to the reindeer and they huffed in response. Aiming for the nearest chimney, North leapt from the sleigh and fell through the night sky. He landed perfectly on the chimney (of course) and slid down it to the very bottom where the hearth was. Once inside, he laid out his presents underneath the tree and filled the stockings in the breath of a moment. When he came back up to the roof, he noticed a slim figure floating just outside the window beneath where North was standing.

It was Jack Frost. Distinguishable by the silver-white hair and the curved wooden-staff he carried, Jack was easily identified for all who saw him. Except nobody saw him. The boy was clearly staring into the window, for God knew why. Curious, North leaned over the side of the roof so that he was just a few feet above Jack's head. "What is it you are doing Jack Frost?"

"Whoah!" Jack yelled in surprise of North's face being so close and, well, North's face. Jack flew back quickly but the tip of his staff bashed into one of North's nostrils, causing an icy shock to spread up North's nose.

"Ahhh!" North exclaimed at the sudden chill. He reached one of his meaty hands to cover and warm the spot where he had been hit. "Jack, why the ice?" North said in discomfort.

Jack was swift to hide his apologetic expression and switched it for a mischievous grin. "Heeey Santa! What brings you here?"

"It is Christmas Eve Jack. I thought you would have known this after all these years." North said whilst rubbing his nose.

"Oh was that tonight?" Jack smiled in false dumbfoundedness. "Well it's hard to keep track of dates when you've been alive for more than a few hundred years."

"Always with the joking Jack." North smirked knowingly. North remembered Jack from when he was just a human lad. Always a trouble-maker. "What are you doing outside of window Jack?"

"Huh? Ohhhh… Just making frost patterns as usual!"

North raised and eyebrow in suspicion.

"I'll just get out of your way so you can do your thing." With that, Jack flew off into the darkness of the night.

When Jack was out of sight, North peered over the edge of the roof and into the window Jack had been staring into. Behind the pane of frosted glass, a little brown-haired girl lay sleeping. She was curled up in her blankets under a pile of stuffed toys. Nothing out of the ordinary. North wondered what Jack had found so interesting about a little girl's room. Maybe it was that odd-looking purple stuffy the girl was sleeping with. That thing was odd enough to catch anyone's eye. North was about to move on to his next house when he noticed the little girl raise her head from her pillow. She blinked in the moonlight and her vision locked on to North. Uh oh. Her eyes grew wide and she giddily jumped out of her bed and pulled open her window before North could move a muscle.

"SANTA!" She was smiling from ear to ear.

"Oh. Hello. You're up late." North chuckled in spite of himself. This wasn't the first time he had been caught on duty and it was always fun to hang out with kids if they didn't take up too much of his short night.

"I waited for you! I was gonna get up when I heard your footsteps downstairs but I didn't hear anything! My older cousin said you weren't real and I said I would prove her wrong!"

"Haha! Your cousin? That wouldn't be Susan would it?"

"Yes! How did- oh right. You're Santa." She said matter-of-factly. "Wow you look just like I thought you would!" She crinkled her nose. "But you sound funny."

"Ah. You maybe mean my accent?"

"Assent?" She crumpled her eyebrows in confusion.

"Accent. How I say things."

"Uh… no I don't think it's your ack-scent." She clearly didn't understand the word. "You sound stuffy. Like you have a cold. And your nose is blue!"

North touched his nose unconsciously. "Ahh. That is because of Jack Frost. He nicked my nose."

"Jack Frost licked your nose?"

"No no. Jack Frost _nicked_ my nose."

"Jack Frost nipped your nose?"

North sighed. He could be here all night if things went on like this and he had many gifts left to deliver.

"Aii… yes fine. Jack Frost nipped my nose."

"Why did Jack Frost nip your nose? He sounds weird."

"Is just expression." North huffed. This girl was adorable but it was time for him to go. "Good night to you. You have been very good this year so I left you present. You will wait until morning to open yes?"

The girl's expression saddened. "You're going? Oh. Okay. Thank you for the presents." She reached into a chest-pocket on her pajamas and pulled out a chocolate-chip cookie, holding it out to North.

North took the cookie and gave her broad smile. "You have a good head start on the nice list for next year."

With that, North grabbed his sack and leapt to the next rooftop. There was a lot of time he had to make up for.

The little girl closed her window and crawled back into bed. "Jack Frost nipping noses." She whispered. "What a weird expression."


End file.
